LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team fell to the New Mexico State University Aggies 9-5 in the opener of a three-game series on Friday at Presley Askew Field.
Graduate student
Montclair Cain led the Vaqueros (10-11, 1-6 WAC) offensively by going 2-for-5 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored. Junior
Adrian Torres went 2-for-5 with a run scored. Graduate student
Brandon Pimentel and senior
Zerek Saenz also went 2-for-5.
After
Meza Treyjen (1-4) retired the first two Vaqueros in the first, sophomore Vela alum
Isaac Lopez was hit by a pitch, Pimentel singled and senior
Roberto Gonzalez reached on an error that allowed Lopez to score to make the score 1-0.
In the second, sophomore
Steven Lancia led off with a single. After a sacrifice bunt, he scored on an RBI-single by junior
Kade York. One out later, a Cain RBI-double made the score 3-0.
Sophomore
Randy Garza retired the first four batters he faced, striking out two. Then, after allowing a double, Garza set down the next eight batters, striking out seven, including all six batters he faced in the third and fourth innings.
The Aggies (4-15, 2-5 WAC) broke through in the fifth. After a leadoff single, the Aggies put the runner in motion. As York went to cover the second base bag,
Keith Jones II hit a grounder through the vacated shortstop position for a base hit.
Nick Gore followed with a 3-run home run to tie the game. Two outs later,
Mitch Namie homered to give the Aggies the lead.
Garza finished with a career-high nine strikeouts in a season-high 5.0 innings.
The Vaqueros tied the game in the sixth on a York RBI-groundout.
In the bottom of the sixth, though,
Christian Perez hit a two-run home run off junior
Zach Tjelmeland (0-1) to give the Aggies a 6-4 lead.
The Vaqueros got one back in the seventh on a Lopez sacrifice fly to make the score 6-5.
The Aggies plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh on an error, a
Cal Villareal RBI-double and a Perez RBI-single.
Tjelmeland finished with two strikeouts. Graduate student
Kris Massey struck out one.
UTRGV pitching recorded 12 strikeouts and no walks over the first 7.0 innings, completing a span of 16.0 innings with 23 strikeouts and no walks.
Freshman Edinburg alum
Daren Barrera made his collegiate debut in the eighth, pitching a scoreless inning.
UTRGV and New Mexico State play the middle game of this three-game series Saturday at 3 p.m. Fans can watch online via
WAC International.
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